RUSTON, La. -- Louisiana Tech saved the best for last as the Bulldogs
ended a five-game home stand Monday.

The Bulldogs put in their highest point total of the season and won
their fifth straight contest as Louisiana Tech downed Tulsa 93-82 before
a crowd of 3,142 in Western Athletic Conference play at the Thomas
Assembly Center.

Tech is now 10-9 overall and 7-5 in the WAC while Tulsa fell to 12-8
and 5-6.

"What a game to watch," Tech coach Keith Richard said. "That's what
college basketball is all about. Two teams battling it out down to the
end. It's wasn't about defense tonight. This was all offense."

The offensive showcase featured 50 percent shooting from Tulsa
(28-of-56) and 51.6 percent from Tech (32-62) and the Bulldogs also tied their
team season-high in 3-pointers with eight, including four from Michael
Wilder and three from Lavelle Felton.

Antonio Meeking, the WAC Player of the Week, led the Bulldogs for the
fifth consecutive game with 22 points, along with seven rebounds, two
assists, three steals and a block. All of that came despite the fact he
spent much of the second half on the bench with foul trouble.

"Louisiana Tech has not shot the ball well from the perimeter most of
the year and you knew it was just a matter of time," Tulsa coach John
Phillips said. "Meeking is a tremendous player. You have to help against
him and it leaves people open. They hit the big shots tonight,
especially in the second half."

The Golden Hurricane came out strong early on, building as much as an
11-point lead in the opening 10 minutes. But the Bulldogs weathered the
storm, taking their first lead of the game 41-40 on a Meeking 2-pointer
with 2:45 remaining in the first half.

Wilder poured in 14 points after intermission and totaled 19 points,
as did Felton. Darrian Brown added a 15-point performance for the
Bulldogs.

Tulsa stretched things back out to an eight-point advantage early in
the second half as the Bulldogs found their big men, Meeking in
particular, in foul trouble. It took a little confidence in the paint to turn
the tide for the Bulldogs.

"They were going to their big guys and we finally got a little
confident and started fronting those guys in the post," Richard said. "Meeking
started doing a good job of it before he got into foul trouble, and
then Darrian Brown came in and did a great job of it."

Richard ended up putting Meeking back out on the floor later than he
intended, mainly because of the other red-hot Bulldogs.

"Wilder made some big-time shots tonight," Richard said. "Felton made
some big shots. D. Brown made some big shots. They did what they had to
do with (Meeking) on the bench. Putting him back in was all predicated
on the score, and that's why he didn't go back in until there were just
a few minutes left."

The win was Richard's first over Tulsa, and that left the Tech coach
feeling good about his team.

"We hadn't beaten them since we joined the WAC," Richard said. "They
were the last team in the conference we hadn't beaten yet, so that feels
pretty good. It's pretty hard to believe that a team with that kind of
talent is 5-6 in the WAC. That's a good team we beat."

Tech won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Tulsa 38-32 in a game
featuring a combined 59 free-throw attempts. The Bulldogs also picked
up a season-high 19 assists, led by Felton with five.

Louisiana Tech next takes to the road as the Bulldogs play a 9 p.m.
WAC contest at Fresno State on Thursday.